The Freezer (Genesis Endeavor Book 1) (27 page)

There were more murmurs of dissent, but for now Jack ignored
them and turned to the combat group. “Who among you has the most experience
leading people in combat, either here or before you were reborn?”

Three people stood in the group. One was Chin, the scarred
man that Jack had met two days ago. The two others were a man around twenty six
or twenty seven and a man who appeared to be in his late forties. “Chin, what
experience do you have?”

“Well, I’ve been running patrols for twenty five years here,
and have seen my share of skirmishes. I didn’t get my nickname by cutting
myself shaving.” He pointed to his face and the scar.

He turned to the younger man, sizing him up. Aside from
obviously being in excellent physical shape, there wasn’t much to distinguish
him from any other soldier Jack had met over the years. “What’s your name,
soldier?” he asked.

“Thomas Parker, sir. I died when I was almost sixty, and
served for over thirty years. I was a Command Sergeant Major, assistant to a
colonel who led my battalion in the first Iraq war.”

“Your battalion was led by a full bird colonel?” Usually a
battalion was led by a light colonel.

Thomas grinned and shrugged. “He was a career officer,
perhaps had a couple bulbs out upstairs. His old man was a Medal of Honor
winner, and quite frankly that’s the only reason he ever got as far as he did. Let’s
just say that a lot of his tactical decisions were made by his assistant.”

Jack knew from experience exactly what Thomas was talking
about. He motioned for the man to continue.

“I was injured toward the end of the war, so I ended up
riding a desk for most of the rest of my career. I finally retired in 2005. Since
being reborn, I have spent the last three years running patrols.” Jack nodded.
Thomas could become a great asset.

He turned to the last man. He would have said this was a
fair skinned black man at first, but as he studied him, he noticed
characteristics of many races. The thought occurred to him that the past few
hundred years would have finally seen the ‘melting pot’ that the forefathers of
America had foreseen. There was now only the racial distinction of being a
regular human, or a Mute... with the exception of the reborn, of course.

The man was older, which was further confirmation of being a
native. “And you?”

“Just call me Red, I never had a formal name. I been leading
patrols since I was found by New Hope bout twenty five years ago, never lost a
man. Before that I spent my days fightin off Mutes or huntin for my nex meal.”

Jack nodded. Although he hadn’t really familiarized himself
with the ‘native’ population, he assumed this man had no formal training of any
kind, but probably knew how to survive and probably how to keep others alive. He
wondered briefly if the mention of never losing a man was a jab at Jack’s
earlier encounter or just a bragging point. He didn’t give it much thought
beyond that, they would find out soon enough if he had what it took to lead men.

“Okay, Thomas, I would like you to get together with Teague
and discuss what it would take to get into S.C. and acquire what we need. Red,
I would like you to get with Tiny and help him plan the forward landing strip. Chin,
I want you to organize a rescue squad, in case any of the patrols or scavenging
teams run into trouble.” Everyone nodded and sat back down.

“Engineering. Who among you was in the engineer corps in the
military?”

Two men stood up. Both were young, as Jack expected. “I want
you two with Tiny’s group. You should be able to help with the building of the
strip. If you come up with any materials that are required, I want you to
liaise with George here and see if anyone knows where to scavenge it.”

He looked at Tiny, who was still lost in thought. “Tiny, do
you have any immediate concerns?”

In his incredibly deep voice he said, “Aside from getting a
dozer on site, it should be pretty straightforward. I would also like to set up
some kind of defensive measures, maybe a ground to air missile if we have it. You
know, as a deterrent, just in case our friends from Cali decide they want a
piece of what we are doing. Once on the ground, we are gonna be vulnerable. What
kind of time frame are you asking for here?”

“I need you ready to go in a week. I think it will all hinge
on the dozer. Does anyone know if we have the kind of defensive equipment he is
asking for?”

Teague spoke up, and with a slight grin that suggested he
knew of something that would work perfectly, he said, “I think we can
accommodate him

Jack turned to the whole group and said, “There is one more
task we need to discuss. We will need a way to harvest and transport about
fifteen hundred human heads.” The room went silent. Jack was not surprised, in
fact he couldn’t think of a better way to silence a room full of people.

“We need engineers to come up with some bins that can be
kept frozen, enough to haul approximately fifteen hundred heads. We need anyone
who is not needed on the other tasks to plan on being there to harvest the
heads. It is not a pleasant task, but necessary. We will need to be able to get
in there, collect and properly label each one, and store them on the plane. All
this needs to be done in the shortest amount of time possible. The longer we
are there, the more chance we will draw unwanted attention.”

He turned back to Teague once more. “Teague do any of our
flyers have weapon systems?”

Teague nodded. “The small two and four man flyers have light
air to ground arms, but are not much good in a dogfight. The medium transports
have both air to air and air to ground systems, and the large transports have
air to air systems.”

“When we fly in, we need to defend the heavy transport with
whatever we can. It’s all for nothing if we can’t get it back here safely.” The
room was once again more serious. “Does everyone here know what they need to
do? Are there any questions?”

“Just one. Who put you in charge?” Jack turned to the voice
and saw Chuck standing in the doorway to the room. The room erupted in
laughter, and people started getting up, ready to go to work.

“What the hell are you doing out of bed?” Jack was surprised
to see him alive, let alone walking.

“Bah, I heard Mad Dawg was staging a coup up here and had to
come see for myself.” He turned to Teague, “And don’t say a damn word Doc, I’ll
go back to bed in a few minutes.” Teague just smiled and shook his head. “I
just wanted to come up here and thank you for saving my ass, Jack.”

Jack colored slightly at the compliment. “I just did what I
needed to do, Chuck. Besides, I couldn’t just let my human shield die.” They
both laughed while Teague and Wendy stood there looking confused. Jack filled
them in the details of those first few seconds when they were caught in the
entrance to the facility.

“Chuck, you’re the one who needs to be thanked. I’m just
glad we made it out of there in one piece. Besides, if it weren’t for Emmet, we
would probably be in Cali right now being interrogated.” They looked at each
other in silence for a moment, reflecting on Emmet’s sacrifice.

Wendy broke the silence. “Chuck, I need to thank you too. I
would have killed you myself if you had come back without Jack.” His look of
surprise was quickly followed by a sly smile.

“Damn, I really thought you were full of shit, Jack. Congratulations.”
Wendy’s face clouded with anger and she shot Jack a look that said he would
have to do a lot explaining. Jack pretended to not have seen her.

“Uh, thanks. Look you better get some rest. The last time I
saw you there was a large hole in your shoulder. That can’t be healthy.”

“Christ, you sound like Teague. Just make sure you include
me in your plans here. After this morning, I don’t want to see the Calis get a
damn thing from the Freezer.” That statement brought back the full weight of
the situation at hand.

“If you’re up for it, I want you to fly the big transport.” Chuck
just nodded. He suddenly looked weary.

“Looks like you’re the boss, I’ll do what I can. Right now,
I think I’ll take a nap, in my own room, not some medical ward.” He turned to
leave the room.

Wendy said, “Hang on, we can walk you up there together. Mad
Dawg needs to get some sleep too... alone.” Chuck shot a look of apology to
Jack, fully aware that he shouldn’t have said anything.

* * *

Chuck had just settled in to bed and was already halfway
towards unconsciousness when his door opened. He was instantly alert, but
settled back down when he saw it was Wendy. He had halfway expected her to come
back after walking Jack to his door, and wasn’t particularly surprised to see
her. The trip up the elevator with her and Jack had been somewhat icy, and not
much was said. “What can I do for you, Wendy?”

“Sorry to interrupt your sleep, Chuck, I know you need the
rest, but I have to ask you a question.” He nodded, knowing what she was going
to ask. “What exactly did Jack say about me today?”

Chuck tried to put on a little smile and said, “Relax, it
wasn’t his fault. You know Emmet just got burned pretty bad by a local?” Wendy
nodded. “Well, Emmet was asking if he had, well, you know, been with any
locals. Jack said he had found someone special, but it wasn’t a local. Emmet
couldn’t let it go at that and grilled him for a name. Jack figured he wouldn’t
stop nagging, so he said it was you. To be quite honest, I thought he was full
of shit. He didn’t seem to care what I thought and sat back to read some old
book he had.”

As he talked, he could visibly see her deflate. This woman
had a chip on her shoulder regarding men since the day he had met her, and she
was always quick to anger when she suspected someone was objectifying her.

In fact, it was out of character for her to hook up with a
man, particularly one she didn’t know a thing about. Whether she felt something
for Jack or just caved under the pressure this community had put on her, he
figured this was her last hope of integrating herself into this new world. If
she was putting herself in a situation like this, he knew it was tenuous at
best and the slightest problem could push her over the edge. Although it was
seldom mentioned, there had been a couple reborn that simply couldn’t live in
this world. Chuck only knew because he had been the first successful reborn. He
had been there to clean up the mess when they decided they had been better off
dead. The last thing he wanted was to be the catalyst that led her to an end
like that.

She looked him square in the eye and said, “If you’re just covering
for him, I will kick your ass after I kick his.” If she hadn’t been dead
serious, he would have laughed.

“Wendy, not all men are assholes. I may not know shit about
Jack’s personal life, but after today I think I can honestly say there isn’t a
man I have ever met who has a stronger character than Jack. I may be a little
biased there, but I have never met anyone quite like him. Personally, I wouldn’t
hesitate to follow that man anywhere.”

She dropped her gaze, looking a little ashamed and
embarrassed now. “Shit, I’m sorry Chuck. I shouldn’t have come in here like
this.” She looked like she was going to leave, but she turned back to face him.
“One more question: why didn’t you believe him?”

He felt his bowels loosen up a little.
You stepped in it
now Chuck.
“Uh... Well, you know. You aren’t exactly receptive to men
Wendy. You sort of have a reputation here, you know...” He was sweating bullets
now. This was not exactly the thing any woman wanted to hear, and this woman in
particular was known for her quick temper. At least he was in bed and injured,
so she wouldn’t take a swing at him.

She blushed and looked away from him, which was not exactly
the reaction he had expected. “Christ, have I really been that bad?” He didn’t
say anything, waiting to see what she would do next. “Look, I meant what I said
earlier, Chuck. I can’t thank you enough for making sure he got back safe. He
means a lot to me. If you ever need anything, just ask.” With that she gave him
a quick but gentle hug and left the room.

For the second time that day, Chuck felt he had narrowly
avoided death. Jack would have his hands full with that woman. She was
incredibly attractive and incredibly volatile all at the same time. He thought
about sharing his concerns with Jack but realized he trusted the man’s
character and knew he would do right by her.

The situation had been diffused, and he felt a little of the
burden of debt toward Jack being eased off his conscience. Sometimes telling
the truth was the best course of action. He sank back into the bed and was
asleep in seconds.

* * *

Wendy felt like an ass. Why had she jumped so quickly to the
conclusion that Jack had been running around bragging to the first men he met
about scoring with her? He was not like that and she knew it. It made her
realize how vulnerable her emotions really were, and she didn’t like that at
all.

Furthermore, she had really kept herself closed off from
everyone here in her effort to stay away from a relationship with men. Most
people here were just trying to survive and ensure that humanity would outlast
the hell that their ancestors had created here on earth. True, there were a
few, like that asshole Jeremy, who deserved what she gave them, but most of
these people hadn’t done anything but help her. They deserved better, and she
intended to start delivering.

She exited the elevator and turned toward Jack’s room. Jack
would be sleeping by now, after all the stress and excitement he had endured
today, and he really needed the rest. She slowed as she got closer to his
apartment, torn between apologizing right away and letting the man get some
sleep. A couple seconds of hesitation turned into a minute, and she decided it
was best to let him sleep and apologize in the morning. Despite this decision,
she rounded the last corner, just in time to see Cat leaving his room. She
quickly ducked back, wondering if the woman had seen her. Anger flared anew.

Indecision paralyzed her. Should she go confront him? Surely
nothing had happened between them, she had only dropped him at the door ten or
fifteen minutes ago. Had it been longer than that? The questions piled higher
and higher, and her anger and anxiety grew with each one.

In retrospect, she had been rather cold toward him when
dropping him at his door. She simply told him to get some sleep, and let him
know they would have some things to talk about in the morning. How well did she
really know the man? Despite her conversation with Chuck, she had too many
doubts about her own judgment of his character. There had been so many times in
life she had trusted her instincts about a man and been proven wrong just when
she thought she had it all figured out. Why should this be any different? The
weight of depression slipped over her, and suddenly she was tired. She no
longer had the energy to deal with this. In the morning, she decided, they
would have a talk, and she would get the answers she needed, if she had to beat
them out of him.

Wiping a tear from her cheek, she turned back to the
elevator.

* * *

Marcus leaned back in his chair. He was seated in his living
quarters with the three other councilmen, and they had been discussing the
attack earlier today. There had been other skirmishes with Cali in the past,
but this was very disconcerting. If New Hope had a chance of surviving the next
ten years, they would need the metal ore they were getting from Cali. He had
hoped, for the last twenty or so years, that they could patch things up without
any incident, but those years had shown that it was more and more unlikely. The
reaction to today’s attack would likely determine the future of relations
between the two communities.

War was out of the question. The reason humanity was on the
verge of extinction was because of situations just like this one. Marcus had no
intention of starting another war. They had worked way too hard the last
hundred and fifty years and he was not about to let that all fall apart. The
problem was, if they had any chance of recovering the precious genetic material
in the cryogenic facility, they couldn’t even contact Cali and try to smooth
the situation over. Joshua would want to know what they were doing up in
Montana before he would ever try to make reparations for his people’s actions
today, and if they knew, the place would be empty before they could get up
there again.

However, if he didn’t contact Joshua and Cali attacked while
they were working to recover what they could from the facility, he feared it
would permanently kill any hope of reconciliation. It seemed to be an
impossible situation. He had to make a decision, and it appeared the decision
was between risking the precious lives of his people and the future of New
Hope. He was unwilling to sacrifice either.

Theodore sighed and said, “Look, I just don’t see any other
options here. We have to either cut a deal with Cali, or push forward with
joining the other communities. Either way we are going to have to share the
facility with the others. We will still get at least four or five hundred more
for the gene pool, and it’s more than enough to ensure humanity’s survival.”

Caleb shook his head. “We have the chance to build a
population that nobody can match. If we had a thousand fertile men and women,
we would not have to worry about Cali or even the Yanks, let alone the other
communities. They would be forced to join us and live under our rules. If we
share that with other communities we would not be exclusively in power, and you
know how I feel about that.” Caleb had the opinion that every war starts when
you have two factions of equal strength vying for ultimate power. Everyone in
the room more or less agreed with him, but not everyone shared his opinion of
keeping New Hope isolated from the rest of the world.

William leaned back in his chair and said, “I stand by my
opinion. We have an opportunity here to go out and secure that which belongs to
us. If it means permanently severing diplomatic ties to Cali, then I say we are
better off. They are in no better position to attack us directly than we are to
attack them. We can find more ways to acquire the resources we will need. Don’t
think for a second that Cali will happily increase the resource trade with us
by a hundred times when we start to build a new home. Joshua is not that
stupid.”

Marcus agreed with William. Joshua would not allow them to
expand that easily, regardless of what they offered in trade. And if he knew
why they needed to expand that quickly, he would make sure it took them twenty
years to build a new home, leaving New Hope with no choice but to take their
chances living out in the open while they were at their most vulnerable point. In
twenty years, they might have the population to be able to live on the surface
without fear of anyone, but until then they needed the shelter – and the
secrecy – if they were to survive.

The door chimed and Teague walked in and took a seat. Marcus
turned to his friend and asked, “How did it go?” Teague was a good man and a
loyal friend, even though he was not much of a leader. He only had a seat on
the council because of what he had done for them, sacrificing everything he had
to protect them and get both the council members and the technology safely out
of Saber Cusp. New Hope would not exist if it weren’t for his actions, and it
was only fair that he have a hand in governing the community. The others were
grateful as well, but didn’t quite feel the way Marcus did. In particular,
Theodore didn’t think he should be on the council at all. Of course, Theodore
wanted Marcus’ chair on the council, and Marcus knew it.

“Jack is a natural. He put together teams that should be
able to execute this operation without too much difficulty. There are risks
here, but I think it’s necessary. The hardest part will be going into S.C. to
procure the equipment we will need.” Marcus had already figured out that they
would have to send some people in to get the machinery they needed. He knew the
risks but was still apprehensive about the operation. Losing people was a high
price to pay, even with the potential rewards that lie ahead.